Blood at Midnight
by Agent R
Summary: On their way to see an old friend, Duncan, Methos, and Richie find themselves in trouble when the friend is found beheaded in a hotel, and Richie is left prime suspect, making matters worse when Duncan and Methos are found dead later on. Nothing permanent
1. Default Chapter

Blood by Midnight  
  
Disclaimer: Not responsible for anything familiar in this story, so don't sue.  
  
A/N: Some of you might find this story familiar to an old movie, if so, then to those of you who do, the reason I chose that movie's plotline was because personally I don't think the humor found in this movie gets the credit it deserves.   
  
This marked about the 4th time this month Richie was getting air sick, the only good thing about this time was now he had a friend who was also turning green. An old friend of his who somehow managed to stay alive in Seacouver, Casey Hanson. Duncan and Methos were meeting up with an old friend (who knew those 2 knuckleheads would befriend the same Immortal?) Louis Phillips, and Richie got dragged along for the ride, so he figured if he were going with them, he might as well find someone to be miserable with for the trip.  
  
"I hate flying," Richie muttered to himself.  
  
"Me too, especially in bumpy weather," Casey agreed.  
  
"That's why I hate it," Richie said.  
  
After that, Richie and Casey went back to reading a magazine while they awaited their landing in California.  
  
"I still can't believe that you met Lou, I never figured he'd meet someone like you," Duncan said.  
  
"Like me? What's that, MacLeod? Lively? Active? Breathing?" Methos asked.  
  
Methos reached into his bag and pulled out some envelopes that were still sealed.  
  
"What's that?" Duncan asked.  
  
Duncan had asked a hundred questions to him since they got on the plane, of course he was expected it, but Methos was still irritated, so he decided to humor himself... "Fried chicken MacLeod, I hope you like yours extra flat...what do you think? It's my mail."  
  
"You're reading your mail on the plane?" Duncan asked.  
  
"You call me up at 4 in the morning, 'Methos, pack your bags, meet me at the airport', I hardly even had time to GET the mail, I'd like to read it before we reach this cheap hotel," Methos said.  
  
"It's not cheap, it's called Shady Lake Hotel," Duncan said.  
  
"Shady Lake? That's the name of a MOTEL," Casey looked up from the magazine.  
  
"Yes, a very cheap one, probably like this hotel we're going to," Methos said.  
  
"Shady Lake?" Richie looked up, "Isn't that the name of a rest home?"  
  
"That's Shady Pines, Richie," Duncan said.  
  
"Oh, have you ever been there?" Richie asked.  
  
"Well I.....What do you think, Boy?" Duncan took offense.  
  
Duncan had only used this tone with Richie once before, after that, Richie was eating his meals standing up for a week, and that was something Richie didn't want to go back to. He let out a slight whimper as he sunk down into his seat. Wanting to forget what just happened, Richie put on his headset and got back to page 45 in Entertainment Weekly.  
  
"Maybe now I can read the mail........aha, here's a letter from my friend Jasper in Germany," Methos reached into the envelope and pulled out a black candle, "oh boy."  
  
"What is it?" Duncan asked.  
  
For a minute, Methos' mind froze on the candle, then he got back to reality and tried to brush it off, "huh?"  
  
"You just said 'oh boy', what is it?" Duncan asked.  
  
Richie removed the headset and turned around to face them, and the candle.  
  
"It's nothing, MacLeod, don't worry about it," Methos said.  
  
"Come on Adam," Richie said, "you said everything this guy sends means something...A black rose means someone's died, a white carnation means a baby's on the way, a cross means there's problems at the church, a shamrock means someone's eluded the police, red candles means someone will die when the lights go out."  
  
"Come to think of it, I got one of those last week, but I haven't noticed anything lately," Methos said.  
  
"So what does a black candle mean?" Richie asked.  
  
"I can't remember, there are so many signs from him, I can't keep track of all of them..don't worry, it'll come back to me, I just need to think," Methos said.  
  
*************************************************************************************************  
  
In an hour, the plane landed, and they wound up in the middle of a rainstorm, in fact, everyone almost drowned reaching the hotel, leaving Methos with just one thing to say.  
  
"Wonderful MacLeod, pure genius, only next time you get ready to book a flight to some place, check the weather, I'm already water logged and we haven't been on ground for 30 minutes."  
  
"Oh stop complaining, at least we got here in one piece, more or less....now let's get in and get a room before we DO drown," Duncan said.  
  
They got in, bringing in with them about 20 gallons of water, while Duncan and Methos registered for rooms, Richie and Casey went ahead, found out what room Lou was staying in, and went up to see what made this guy so important.  
  
"Well, there's no doubt that someone's here," Methos told Duncan.  
  
By 'someone', Methos meant an Immortal.  
  
"I know, but considering how many people are here, I don't think we have to worry about anything right up front," Duncan said.  
  
"And if THIS guy IS Lou, then we shouldn't have anything to worry about," Methos told him.  
  
"True, but I'm not holding my breath," Duncan said.  
  
Duncan felt someone tap him on the shoulder, he turned around and saw a guy in a suit and trenchcoat.  
  
"Who are you?" he asked.  
  
"Duncan MacLeod, and you are?" Duncan asked.  
  
"Inspector Tracy Feldman......wait a minute...MacLeod? And you're Pierson?"  
  
"I should hope so, otherwise I spent 3 weeks in Bermuda for nothing," Methos said.  
  
"That's what I thought, Mr. Phillips has been expecting you," Inspector Feldman said.  
  
"Well we haven't seen him in a while, what's he up to these days?" Methos asked.  
  
"Criminal lawyer, here comes his secretary Robert Q. Link," Inspector Feldman pointed out.  
  
"What's the Q stand for?" Duncan asked, feeling humorous.  
  
"You can ask him that yourself," the inspector said.  
  
With that, the inspector left, just then, something hit Methos, "I just remembered something."  
  
"What?" Duncan asked.  
  
"Red candles mean someone will die when the lights go out, a black candle follows it up, meaning it's guaranteed to have happened," Methos said.  
  
Before Duncan could say anything, someone passing by bumped into him and they both fell on the floor, then Duncan got a good look at the man who hit him.  
  
"JOE!"  
  
"MacLeod, fancy meeting you here, vacation?" Joe laughed.  
  
"Hardly, more like business, need a hand up?" Duncan asked.  
  
"No thanks, I'll help myself, so, what're you doing here?"  
  
"I was about to ask you the same thing," Duncan said.  
  
"I'm your Watcher, it's my job to..."  
  
"Yeah, yeah, yeah, I know, I know, you've only run that line by me a hundred times....we're here to see an old friend."  
  
"WE?"  
  
"Me, Methos and Richie."  
  
"They're here too?" Joe looked around.  
  
"No Joe, I haven't gotten around to taking them out of the trunk yet," Duncan sighed, "Metho is down here, and Richie's upstairs finding Lou."  
  
"Lou......You mean Louis Phillips?"  
  
"No, Lou Costello, OF COURSE LOU PHILLIPS!" Duncan said.  
  
At that instant, everyone heard two people yelling, Duncan and Joe turned to see Richie and Casey come running down the stairs...Actually only Casey was coming down the stairs, Richie slipped onto the banister and slid down, the next thing Duncan knew, Richie was practically on him, screaming and blabbing in a tone no one could understand.  
  
"Oh no, not you again!"   
  
The hotel manager apparently recognized Richie and called in the inspector, "Have him removed from this place before he kills somebody!"  
  
"Oh no it wasn't me, I didn't kill him, he was already dead when I got there," Richie flabbergasted.  
  
"What are you talking about?" Duncan asked.  
  
"It's Lou, Mac, he's dead!"  
  
"Dead?" Duncan's mind froze. He couldn't believe what he'd just heard.  
  
"That's impossible, we don't permit murders here," Mr. Chandler, the hotel manager exclaimed.  
  
"Ahhhhhhhh Mister Shmandler," Richie started.  
  
"CHANDLER!"  
  
"Doh!" Richie started muttering and spitting until he finally got to the words, "He's dead, dead, dead...........*eeeg* come here!"  
  
So, Duncan, Casey, Methos, Joe, Chandler, and the Inspector followed Richie up to room 105. 


	2. The Second Victim

Blood at Midnight chapter 2  
  
A/N: Okay, so I forgot to tell you the movie this story's spoofing is Abbott and Costello Meet the Killer Boris Karloff, sorry if I left some of you in the dark about what movie it's based on...Before you say anything about that, read the first A/N and you'll see why I chose it.  
  
When Richie led them to Lou's room, they found his body on the floor, decapitated, no weapon around.  
  
"I don't believe this, wouldn't anyone have noticed something unusual?" Duncan asked.  
  
"Maybe it was around the time the power went out....a sudden thunderstorm started up earlier, put out the power for a while, then it was over within a few minutes, that was probably when the murderer struck," Mr. Chandler said.  
  
"Or perhaps it was shortly after, that storm came up only a short while before you arrived, some of the hotel guests and staff were still shook up from it, they were probably too confused to notice anything," Inspector Feldman said.  
  
"Well, it looks like whoever did it certainly knew what they were doing," Methos said.  
  
"How do you figure that Mr. Pierson?"  
  
"Well, isn't it obvious? It was a smooth job," Methos said.  
  
"Well, since you know so much on a job like this, maybe you know something about it," Inspector Feldman said.  
  
"Not me, I was downstairs the whole time," Methos replied.  
  
With that, the inspector turned to Richie, "perhaps you, Mister Ryan?"  
  
"No, Richie couldn't have done this," Duncan defended him.  
  
"We can't be sure of that, Mister MacLeod, he came up here with his friend and INSISTED that he stay outside WHILE he go inside to see if Mr. Phillips was there...Come 15 seconds later, he came running out of the room screaming," Inspector Feldman said.  
  
"15 seconds? Between that time and the time he spent blubbering downstairs in the lobby ABOUT the murder, he couldn't have thrown away the weapon," Duncan told him.  
  
"Are you suggesting that we subdue him to a criminal search?" Inspector Feldman asked.  
  
"No, I'm suggesting you get out the rubber hoses and whack him around until he talks....I'm suggesting I search him, Richie's already had trouble with the police, I don't think he'd take it likely coming from you...don't worry, I won't miss an area."  
  
Duncan pinned Richie against the wall and searched his pockets, patted down his jeans, spun him around and checked the pockets on his shirt. "Nothing."  
  
"We'll call in the coroners and they'll take the body down to the morgue, in the meantime Ryan, don't think of stepping out, we're going to have officers sticking around watching the guests that check out," Inspector Feldman told him.  
  
Methos waited until Inspector Feldman and Mr. Chandler and Casey left before he said anything, "This must be what Jasper was trying to tell me."  
  
"You mean he didn't say WHO the victim was?" Duncan asked.  
  
"He never knows WHO, he just knows it'll happen," Methos said, "and like such, he also knows when it'll be over."  
  
"All this is starting to scare me," Richie said, "we came here, we knew there was another Immortal so we figured it was Lou, but he was already dead at the time, meaning that there is another Immortal running loose in this hotel."  
  
"I know, which means we better make sure we're ready incase we run into him," Duncan said.  
  
"HIM?" Richie and Methos asked.  
  
"Him, her, it, I don't care which it is, I just want them dead before WE end up in that position," Duncan said.  
  
"Well, I don't think it's too smart for us to stay at the scene of the crime, I'm going to my room," Methos said.  
  
"Me too, come on, Richie," Duncan said.  
  
"Hey Mac......sorry about your friend, I guess I could've found a more settle way to explain it...but I...."  
  
"Forget it Richie, the damage has already been done, none on your part," Duncan said.  
  
*************************************************************************************************  
  
Richie didn't say anything on the way to their hotel room, by that time, they found Casey already unpacked over on the east side of the room, then something hit Richie.  
  
"You don't think I killed him, do you, Mac?" he asked.  
  
"No...No Richie, it doesn't look all that bad, for one thing, we already proved that there was no way you could have the time to kill him and dispose of the weapon...Plus, until last week, you never even heard of him, so you held no grudge against him, you didn't even know him. No sane person kills without a motive, and you....well you're not the sane prototype, but you're close enough for them to know better than to think you're a psycho...On the other hand you did have Casey wait outisde while you went in, then you came out screaming....but that doesn't necessarily add up to anything....Lou had plenty of enemies, and being a criminal lawyer only made it worse for him, so he must've had about a hundred enemies in his life, anyone could've killed him," Duncan said.  
  
"That's one way of putting it," Richie said. "But since we know what kind of person we're looking for, I think that narrows it down," he whispered.  
  
"If they need a witness, I can testify he didn't do it," Casey said, "I have pretty good hearing and I would've heard anything going on in the room. The only thing I heard was Richie looking for the guy and then I followed him in, and we found the body lying on the floor, just like it was, then we came out of the room screaming and you know what happened after that."  
  
"Unfortunately I do," Duncan said, "there's just one thing I'd like to know, how did the hotel manager know about you?"  
  
"Well when we got ahead of you, we were rushing up the stairs as he was coming down the stairs, and......strike."  
  
"Strike?"  
  
"Like bowling pins," Casey replied, "All of us got knocked down, him, me, Richie, and 3 of the bellboys."  
  
"So he really didn't know me, he just knew what I was capable of doing," Richie said.  
  
"Oh boy," Duncan laughed, "was there any damage done?"  
  
"I don't think so, the 4 of them are still walking around, the stairs are still in tact, nobody's bleeding," Richie said.  
  
Although Richie tried to go along with the act, he knew Duncan was trying not to think about what had just happened, which was about as impossible as it got. Richie had heard from Duncan a hundred times how he and Lou were friends for over 200 years, and this hit him like a bombshell, how he managed to keep himself together was beyond Richie.  
  
"Nobody...except maybe Lou," Duncan finally said.  
  
"I just don't get it, I know people resort to murder, but who would resort to decapitating him?" Casey asked.  
  
"Some sick fool, probably," Duncan said.  
  
Duncan couldn't figure it out, he could count on one hand how many known times Lou had fought and defeated Immortals, he didn't enjoy fighting all that much, he kept a low profile everywhere he went...apparently before he turned into a criminal lawyer...and even that wasn't for long. He couldn't figure out who killed him, but he knew one thing for sure, he was going to get to the bottom of it.  
  
As the buzz hit Duncan, he went over to the door, and narrowly avoided having it open on his nose as Methos came in. "Looks like there might be trouble, the police are here."  
  
"Great, the day that wouldn't die," Richie said, "allright, let's go and get this over with."  
  
"Get what over with?" Methos asked.  
  
"You know, the regular booking, being read my rights, fingerprinted, mug shots, set bail....why am I stalling?" Richie asked himself.  
  
"Richie, you're not going to jail because they can't prove you murdered Lou, they can't prove anyone murdered him," Duncan said.  
  
"But someone's still going to jail for it, and you know as much as I do who chances are it's gonna be," Richie said.  
  
*************************************************************************************************  
  
For a while, Richie still thought he was going to jail, the police searched their hotel room, his luggage, himself, found nothing pretty much, they did find his and Duncan's swords, Duncan explained he was a an expert in swordsmanship, but rarely used the swords for actual contact.  
  
Duncan reminded the police about the time factor being in Richie's favor, however, Inspector Feldman insisted on entering his own opinion about it.  
  
"This punk went in Mr. Phillip's room while his friend stayed outside, he could've easily sneaked in with one of MacLeod's swords, beheaded Phillips, handed it to his accomplice, and then they made their getaway," he said.  
  
"That's ridiculous!" Richie started.  
  
"Oh is it? Search HIM, he may have the murder weapon on him," the inspector eyed Casey.  
  
Richie was ready to step in and take action, but Duncan held him back, the last thing they needed was Richie going to jail for actually murdering someone. The search Duncan did on Richie was normal, the police search was more or less normal for Richie, but they treated Casey worse. First they pinned him flat against the wall, then when he moved, one officer grabbed him and jerked his hands behind his back while the other officer continued searching him. Then when he tried to move again, he got thrown aside and rammed his mouth against the wall as they continued the search.  
  
"These guys are manhandling Casey with less respect than they did me, you know what the problem with that is?" Richie muttered.  
  
"What?" Duncan asked.  
  
"They showed NO respect with me, out of my way!" Richie started.  
  
Richie somehow worked up the strength to throw Duncan aside, but two of the officers pinned him against the wall, leaving him with just one thing to say for the moment. "You two think you could move your hands somewhere else? You're squishing my lungs."  
  
"Shut up!" the first officer slapped him upside his head.  
  
After the search was over and they found no murder weapon on Casey, the inspector took the liberty of butting in again.  
  
"When these guys came here, Mr. Hanson kept more a low profile than the rest, he remained out of sight for the remainder of the period of time until the police came here, he could've easily stashed the sword somewhere else in the hotel," he said.  
  
"That's ridiculous," Duncan said, "if you look here, you'll see that my swords are right where they belong, none of them are missing."  
  
"No? Then what about Mr. Pierson? He came here carrying a sword himself, do you still have it with you, Mr. Pierson?" Inspector Feldman asked.  
  
Methos reached into his coat and pulled it out, gripping the handle, with an emotionless look in his eyes, as if he were ready to kill him.  
  
"Does this answer your question?" he asked.  
  
"Your suspicions appear bone dry, Mister Feldman," the officer said.  
  
"Not quite, Mr. Pierson also remained missing for some amount of time, and no one has looked in his luggage yet, he may be carrying another sword with him, it may already be missing, he could be an accomplice in this case," Inspector Feldman said.  
  
"Oh will you shut up?" Richie and Methos asked.  
  
"Your suspicions are irrelevant, Mister Feldman, the only relevant thing you have is the fact that the only person who's been seen in Phillips' room was Mr. Ryan," the officer said, "and there's no proof that he can even remotely be charged for this murder."  
  
"Officer, have you even looked at the boy? He's living proof he's trouble," Inspector Feldman said.  
  
"Trouble maybe, murderer I highly doubt, we already know that Phillips, being a criminal lawyer had his share of enemies, so we'll be checking the list of people who checked into this hotel to see if any names match, and we'll also be speaking with his secretary about any additional enemies he may have had. In the mean time, in your case however, I strongly suggest that you don't bother with us until you can get some cold, hard facts about this case, good day!" the officer slammed the door on his way out.  
  
The inspector turned to Richie, still seeming pleased by what happened, he had a smart aleck grin on his face, Richie had seen this before in people, usually meaning they were going to have things go in their favor.  
  
"Well Mr. Ryan, you heard the police, you're the only suspect in this case, leaving you with no alibi," Inspector Feldman said.  
  
Richie was fed up with the annoying inspector and decided to have at it with him, but he knew that would be enough to get him put away, so he just decided to be a smart aleck for the time being. "Yeah, I heard them, your opinions are totally worthless to them, and they're not gonna listen to you until you can prove anything. Besides, you're only a detective, and since you're risking losing all credability to the cops, even if you find the real killer, they'll never believe you."  
  
"You sorry son of a!"  
  
The inspector finished his sentence early when he grabbed Richie by the shoulders and started violently shaking him. Duncan and Methos finally had to pull him off, and when Richie got some sense back into him, he was left with just one opinion to the inspector.  
  
"You're not going to get away with this inspector, every dog has his day and I'll have mine, I'm gonna make you pay for this," Richie said.  
  
"Are you threatening me?" the inspector asked.  
  
"Damn right I am, you accuse me of being the murderer with no proof, you search my room, MY bags, MY OWN PERSONAL ME, then you attack my friend searching him, you harass me, him, Mac and Adam, and you still insist that I'M the guilty party here...You're going to pay for this one of these days," Richie said, "so you can just wipe that grin off your face, because I show no mercy."  
  
The inspector rested his hand on the dresser, Richie slammed the telephone on it. The inspector wound his hand up into a fist as it tunred bright red, and he left, a few minutes later, Joe entered the room, "is it safe to come in?"  
  
"Yeah, I think the worst is over," Duncan said.  
  
"Not necessarily," Methos said, "the Inspector knows that Richie was the only person seen going into Lou's room, then he immediately ran out, nobody knew of the original murderer because he attacked when the power was going out. And to lower Richie's credability in this case, the real murderer left the hotel, apparently he checked out as we came to find the body."  
  
As crazy as the case was, Methos still managed to keep from saying anything about Immortals as long as Casey was around, if he had that good of hearing, he would easily be able to hear him talking from nearby.  
  
"Joe, what room are you staying in?" Duncan asked.  
  
"Uh.....165, why?"  
  
"We're staying in 168 and 170, so should anything else come up, I think we'll be able to move quickly enough," Duncan said.  
  
"Wait a minute, 168 and 170? Why didn't you 2 get rooms next to each other?" Joe asked.  
  
"We tried, but 169 was already taken by a swami," Richie said.  
  
"Swami?" Joe asked.  
  
"Yeah, at least I think that's what he is, he wears this thing wound up on his head like a turban or something, and he wears this short jacket with a....celestial symbol at the top button," Richie said.  
  
"Well, if he doesn't sound like an odd-ball character," Joe laughed.  
  
"The police are going to be questioning everyone, unless he can pull a disappearing act like the murderer, I don't think he'll slip through the cracks," Duncan said.  
  
"Well...what am I supposed to do about that dumb inspector Feldman?" Richie asked.  
  
"I'm not sure, although first thing you might want to do is apologize, he already thinks he has you cornered, your insulting him won't help your case any," Duncan said.  
  
"You really think I should?"  
  
Richie was just being stubborn, he didn't feel like apologizing and nobody could really blame him, but he did want to keep out of jail. However, Duncan wasn't taking Richie's attitude likely, he gave him another one of his memoriable stares.  
  
"Okay, I'm going, I'm going," Richie said.  
  
Richie closed the door on his way out, 2 seconds later, he opened it again. "What's the inspector's room number?"  
  
Duncan knew he was just stalling, but there was no sense in arguing, "138."  
  
Richie sighed as he headed out, right now, he would rather jump off the tallest building in town and hope to land on a garden of cacti than apologize to Inspector Feldman.  
  
It took him a while to find the right room, he kept passing by several that were already full with nosy people, which included Phillips' secretary, Robert Link. By the time he reached room 138, he jiggered with the knob and found it locked, he was about to go back and ask for a key when he just remembered there was something heavy in his pocket. He pulled out a ring full of pass keys, he figured they must've dropped in his pocket when they collided with the bellboys earlier.  
  
"Oh well, who's gonna know? Them?" Richie smirked as he opened the door.  
  
Richie went in and found the inspector sitting in the next room, he didn't want to face him, so he stayed near the door.  
  
"Inspector Feldman, it's me, Richie Ryan, I came to apologize for......for threatening you the way I did.....also, I'd like to apologize for slamming the telephone on your hand, that must've hurt," Richie let out a quiet snort/laugh, "well, now that I've spoken my piece, I think I'll go now."  
  
Richie turned to face the inspector and saw he fell on the floor, Richie figured he was probably exhuasted with all the stress.  
  
"Cops and private dicks never live long," Richie said, "all the stress......." Richie stuck out his neck to speak with him, "Mister Feldman, wouldn't you rather go lie down on the bed in the next room, huh? It's a short walk...Inspector, ain't you feeling well?"  
  
Richie saw he wasn't moving and realized he was getting lightheaded himself. Richie saw a handkerchief on the floor and started waving it in front of the inspector's face, "boy I gotta get you air....the police have my hide for this if they think I'm trying to kill you.."  
  
Then it hit Richie that it wouldn't be good if someone walked in and saw the body lying on the floor, so he picked him up and noticed blood staining through the abdomen of his white shirt. Richie choked as he tried to keep his mind from freezing on the sight. "B---b---bbbb-----blood....he's dead...."  
  
Richie slowly got up and recapped what happened, leaving him with just one word he could say.   
  
"MAAAAAAAC!"  
  
Richie ran downstairs to find Duncan speaking with Mr. Chandler, he ran over to Duncan and started tugging on his coat.  
  
"What's the matter, Rich?" Duncan asked.  
  
"Not you again, get out of here before you kill someone else!" Mr. Chandler said.  
  
"Oh no, don't you go blaming me for the first one and don't go blaming me for THIS one!" Richie exclaimed.  
  
"Richie, calm down, what're you talking about?"  
  
"Inspector Feldman, he's been murdered too!"  
  
"WHAT!?" Mr. Chandler asked.  
  
With that, everyone rushed back up to room 138. 


	3. Out for the Kill?

Blood at Midnight chapter 3  
  
Once again, everyone rushed into room 138 and found the inspector dead on the floor.  
  
"He IS dead," Duncan said.  
  
"Sure he's dead, that's what I tried to tell you downstairs...he's dead, I'll see ya later," Richie headed for the door.  
  
"Don't go away," Duncan warned him, "and nobody touch that body!"  
  
"Touch it?" Richie asked. "I don't know anyone who would want to look at it. Especially being Inspector Feldman."  
  
Joe went over to the phone and dialed up the police, "Hello, give me Sergeant Adams..."  
  
Casey came in and kept his distance from the body, but got a good look at the damage.  
  
"This was obviously done by a gun silencer, otherwise someone would've heard it," Casey said.  
  
"What kind of gun?" Richie asked.  
  
"Well from the looks of it, I'd say something within the ranging of a Raven P25 .25 Caliber automatic," Casey said.  
  
Richie turned and saw Duncan had a rather confused look on his face.  
  
"He studies the structures of guns," Richie told him.  
  
"No I don't want to speak to the Inspector, I want to speak to Adams," Joe said, then there was a pause. ".....Hello, Sergeant Adams? Yeah, my name's Joe Dawson, I'm staying at the Shady Lake Hotel, you better hop on over here....well it looks like there's been a murder.....who? Inspector Feldman apparently..."  
  
Joe quickly turned the receiver away from his ear and held it away as everyone heard the sergeant yelling on the phone, then he put it down. "He'll be right over."  
  
Several people came in, including Phillips' secretary, Robert Link.  
  
"Are the police here?" he asked.  
  
"Not yet but they're on their way," Duncan told him.  
  
A few minutes later, the sergeant came up to the room, Robert had something to say.  
  
"My gun is missing from my hotel room, it's registered in my name so if it turns out to be the murder weapon, well I just want the police to know," he said.  
  
"What kind of gun was it?" Casey asked.  
  
"A .25 caliber automatic," Robert said.  
  
"We'll keep it in mind, any idea who could've swiped it?" Sergeant Adams asked.  
  
"Well it...might have been a maid or a bellboy," Robert told him.  
  
"Bellboy? That makes sense, bellboys carry pass keys," Joe said.  
  
"Sure, it could've been a bellboy, I know, I had the bellboy's keys in my pocket and they had a pass key, they could get into every room.......What am I saying?" Richie muttered.  
  
"Sergeant, I heard him threaten the Inspector, search him, he may have Mr. Link's gun on him," Mr. Chandler told him.  
  
"Again with the police brutality," Richie said.  
  
"Shut up," Duncan muttered.  
  
The sergeant searched Richie apparently better than the police did, but still found nothing.  
  
"Allright, everyone return to your rooms, we'll get to the bottom of this," Sergeant Adams said.  
  
Everyone slowly returned to their rooms, well almost everyone, Duncan and Methos went downstairs to discuss some things in the lobby, leaving Richie and Casey to talk.  
  
"You don't think I had anything to do with it, do you Casey?" Richie asked.  
  
"No, but it looks bad, of course you have 2 things in your favor," Casey said.  
  
Richie took the handkercheif out of his pocket and collected the sweat from his forehead in it, it was then that he realized that there were tiny drops of blood on it. Richie couldn't figure out where they came from, he didn't notice them when he was waving it in front of the inspector, of course at the time, he didn't pay much attention to the handkerchief...Then it hit him that Casey was still talking to him. "What would that be?"  
  
"Well for one, they found no blood stains on you," Casey said.  
  
Richie looked at the handkercheif again and put it in his pocket as Casey continued, "number 2, the gun that killed Feldman is still missing."  
  
Richie felt exhausted and decided to get some rest, he pulled back the covers on the bed and saw a gun hidden under the covers! Richie wasn't much on guns, but he figured it was a Raven P25 .25 caliber--whatever... In a panic, Richie bunched up the sheets and picked them up off the bed with the gun hidden in it.  
  
"On the other side of the legend however, you were clearly harrassed by him, and you were threatened him and then you got threatened to be taken to jail. Of course that supplies a motive, then you were seen fighting with him again, and you were seen coming out of his room," Casey turned to see Richie with a bundle of sheets in his hands, "What in the world is that?"  
  
"T-t-t-t-t--laundry," Richie muttered.  
  
"Laundry?" Casey asked.  
  
Casey knocked the sheets out of Richie's hands and the gun fell on the floor, at that time, Duncan and Methos came in, "What's going on?" Duncan asked.  
  
Casey picked up the gun and showed it to him, "somehow this got in Richie's bed."  
  
Duncan took the gun and looked at Richie, "allright Richie, where'd you get this gun?"  
  
"I don't know," Richie replied.  
  
"Richie, this is the last time I'm going to ask you, now where'd you get the gun?" Duncan asked.  
  
"I don't know," Richie repeated.  
  
"WHERE'D YOU GET THAT GUN?" Duncan asked.  
  
"Ah that's not fair! You said the last time you were gonna ask," Richie complained.  
  
"There's no doubt that's Link's gun, and no doubt as to why they put it in here," Methos said.  
  
"Now why would anyone want to put that thing in here?" Richie asked.  
  
"When we find that out, we'll find the culprit," Duncan said.  
  
"Who's that?" Casey asked.  
  
"The culprit and the murderer are the same," Richie said.  
  
"Come on Richie, we have to put this thing back before someone finds...."  
  
"No you don't, you two are in enough suspicion with the cops already, we'll put it back," Duncan said.  
  
"WE?" Methos asked.  
  
"Yes, you and I, come on, shake a leg," Duncan said.  
  
Again, Methos decided to be humorous and did as he was told.  
  
"Hey Mac."  
  
"Yeah Richie?"  
  
"What do you want me to do?"  
  
"I want you to stay put and I don't want you to get into anymore trouble until I get back," Duncan told him.  
  
Richie closed the door on them as they left, "can you believe that, Case? Telling me to 'stay put and don't cause anymore trouble 'til he gets back', treating me like a kid."  
  
"Hey Richie, do you think the guy who killed the inspector is the same guy who killed Duncan and Adam's friend?" Casey asked.  
  
"I doubt it, I doubt he would behead one person and shoot another one," Richie said.  
  
"Hey Rich."  
  
"What?"  
  
"Do you think the murders might still be connected?"  
  
"I don't know, how do you figure?"  
  
"Well, first he killed Phillips, and the Inspector started questioning people, including you, now the inspector's dead, which means one of us is bound to be next."  
  
"You know, I really hate it when you're right," Richie told him.  
  
*************************************************************************************************  
  
"Do you think the murders can be connected?" Methos asked.  
  
"That I highly doubt, otherwise wouldn't an Immortal be the one doing this job as well?" Duncan asked as he slipped the gun into one of Link's suits.  
  
"But who would kill that inspector? Sure no one in their right mind would like him, nevertheless, why murder? Why not just brain him with a vase or something?" Methos asked.  
  
"I don't know, but apparently whoever it is that did this knows about Richie's fight with the inspector, and that doesn't really help because just about the whole hotel heard it," Duncan said.  
  
"So we need to narrow it down to those who are sick enough to actually kill," Methos replied.  
  
"Exactly, that and someone who truely hated the inspector," Duncan said.  
  
"I hate him but you don't see me shooting him," Methos said.  
  
"I know, now let's get out of here before someone sees us," Duncan told him.  
  
Duncan and Methos headed out of Link's room and headed back to their room when they realized that Richie wasn't there.  
  
"Why he went to your room is beyond me, come on," Duncan said.  
  
They headed over to Methos' room and found Richie and Casey on the bed playing poker.  
  
"Richie, what are you two knuckleheads doing in here?" Duncan asked.  
  
"Well, we did a little logical thinking and we reached a conclusion," Casey said.  
  
"What's that?" Duncan asked.  
  
"We're not taking any chances of getting sliced up like an anchovy pizza," Richie said.  
  
"Richie, that's ridiculous, nobody's going to kill YOU," Duncan told him.  
  
"You can't be sure of that, Mac, you saw what they did to the inspector, and you know what they did to Lou, one was beheaded, another was shot, us, they might beat over the head with a shovel and chop us up into a thousand pieces," Richie said.  
  
"Ugh," Methos groaned, "not now, I'm still waiting for my lunch to settle."  
  
"You really think the murderer would come looking for you two?"  
  
"It makes sense, doesn't it?" Casey asked, "think about it, we know you, you knew Lou, Lou's dead, the inspector got involved in the case, he's dead, who do you think's going to be next?"   
  
"I don't know, but I doubt that the murderer, whoever it may be, will go after anyone else, come on, everyone with half a brain hated the inspector," Duncan said, "nobody in this hotel except for us and Joe know you."  
  
"And the bellboys, and Sergeant Adams, and Mr. Chandler, and Lou's secretary, and earlier I had a run-in with that swami," Casey said, "I think he hexed me..."  
  
"Case, swamis don't hex, they tell fortunes," Richie said.  
  
"Oh yeah? I tell you, he hexed me," Casey scratched his lifeline, "my palm itches Rich, what's that a sign of?"  
  
"Means your hand's dirty, if you're gonna keep up that voodoo hocus pocus, I'm taking my chances back in my own room," Richie said.  
  
"Allright you two, knock it off, I'm going downstairs to talk to Joe, maybe he knows something that we don't yet, in the mean time you two stay here, and Adam, no alcohol," Duncan said.  
  
"Why? I'm not going anywhere," Methos said.  
  
"Not you, those two!" Duncan told him.  
  
"Ohhhhhhhhhh......don't worry, I'm not even sure I'M up for a drink," Methos said.  
  
"Besides, right now I'm a bit jittery for a drink, I'd shake the dry out of the scotch," Richie told him.  
  
*************************************************************************************************  
  
"Only 4 Quickenings?" Joe asked.  
  
"Yeah that's all I know," Duncan said, "I knew him for about 200 years, but he never talked about any additional fights he got into."  
  
"Criminal lawyers have enemies by the dozens, but any and every mortal enemy he could've made in that is in jail, locked up, maximum security, there's no way they can get out," Joe told him.  
  
"So that scratches that idea," Duncan said, "What about Immortals? Aren't there records of anyone else other than those 4?"  
  
"I'm not sure," Joe said.  
  
"Well who's his Watcher?" Duncan asked.  
  
"Well, that's a Niles Webb.........Niles Webber, hey, I spoke to that guy just last week," Joe said.  
  
"Wonderful, give him a call, see if he knows anything," Duncan said.  
  
"Uh......can't."  
  
"Why not?" Duncan asked.  
  
"Phone's dead."  
  
"Then use the phone in the lobby," Duncan said.  
  
"That payphone's broken."  
  
"Then use the one behind the front desk, come on."  
  
Duncan jerked Joe over to the desk and brought up the phone and took the receiver off the hook, "Call him and find out what you can."  
  
"Allright, I'll try, but I can't promise anything," Joe said.  
  
"That's okay, I've been around for 400+ years, I've learned to live with no guarantees," Duncan said.  
  
Joe called Niles and basically got no help from him, leaving them back where they started from.  
  
"I'm sorry Mac, but he didn't find anything either," Joe told him.  
  
"That's allright Joe, I'm used to this by now."  
  
*************************************************************************************************  
  
Meanwhile, one of the hotel guests, Ruth Goseland, who had known Lou from a lawsuit had been talking to Richie.  
  
"I knew he made enemies in his time, but I can't imagine who would do such a thing," she said.  
  
"Well, I'm sure the police will find the muderer soon enough," Richie told her.  
  
"And to think they accuse YOU of murdering Mr. Phillips AND Inspector Feldman BOTH, it's absolutely preposterous," Ruth said.  
  
"I know, you should have seen it, the inspector was all down my throat the last time I saw him because HE harassed ME," Richie said, "on top of that, he showed no respect to me, even less to Casey, and then he threatened me and put down my friends."  
  
"They think you're capable of doing such a thing?" Ruth asked.  
  
"Yeah, crazy, ain't it?" Richie asked.  
  
"I can't believe it," Ruth said, "I can't figure how anyone could think YOU would be capable of killing 2 people like that...what you need to do is write up a confession."  
  
"A confession?" Richie asked.  
  
"Yes, then when you find the real murderer, you can get him to sign it and you'll have your proof," Ruth told him.  
  
"Of course! Why couldn't I think of that?" Richie asked, "I feel like such a dumdum."  
  
Richie sat down at the desk and took out a pen and tore off a sheet of paper on a small pad.  
  
"I hereby confess," Ruth dictated.  
  
Richie shot out of his chair, "You did it?"  
  
"No, Richie, write."  
  
Richie sat back down and Ruth continued, "I hereby confess to the murders of Louis Phillips, and Inspector Tracy Feldman......now sign it."  
  
For a minute, Richie had a dazed look on his face, "me sign it?"  
  
"Of course, then when the real murderer signs it, they'll know who got the confession," Ruth told him.  
  
"Something sounds fishy in all this," Richie said, "allright, I'll sign at the bottom and the murderer can sign right below the confession......there, Richie Ryan."  
  
When Richie stood up, there was a knock at the door, he answered it to find the champagne wagon.  
  
"What's this?" Richie asked.  
  
"I arranged for a couple of drinks, I hope you don't mind," Ruth told him.  
  
"Scandal, murder, women and alcohol?" Richie muttered to himself, "I never thought I'd live a life like this."  
  
*************************************************************************************************  
  
Meanwhile, Casey was downstairs with Sergeant Adams and Inspector Reilia, who was speaking with several of the hotel guests.  
  
"You all had a motive for killing Phillips', that was something the late Inspector Feldman was looking into, unfortunately the killer struck again, this time it was the inspector. Now, some of you are still missing, others we'll get to next, but one thing's for sure, no one's passing through here without an inspection... There's reason to believe the murders weren't committed by one person, but in fact a group of people, to build up distraction, hysteria, and others to stay near the scene of the crime and act as if nothing happened...Don't even think you'll leave this hotel without being searched, now get out of here, all of you disgust me!"  
  
"Well, that went better than I figured," Casey said, "uhh....Sergeant, any idea who the real murderer might be, off hand?"  
  
"Other than you and your friend Ryan, no...although I can't wait to get my hands on Ruth Goseland and see if she's tied up in this," Sergeant Adams replied.  
  
"Ruth Goseland?" Casey repeated.  
  
"Yeah, she was already tried once before for killing her husband, she served 2 jiggers of champagne and 1 jigger of poison."  
  
"Holy smoke, she's up in Richie's room, I saw the champagne wagon heading that way, they're having cocktails right now!" Casey exclaimed.  
  
"WHAT!?" Sergeant Adams exploded.  
  
"There's a poison antidote in the doctor's office, let's go," Mr. Chandler said.  
  
Back in Richie's room, he was pondering why for the first time in his life, he was refusing a drink, especially one from a beautiful lady.  
  
"I'm hurt, Richie, I mix together one of my special drinks with wine, sweet and sour scotch, a bloody mary, and a few herbs for flavor...and you won't even taste it," she said.  
  
"I have a confession to make," Richie said.  
  
"YOU did it?" Ruth asked.  
  
"Noooooo, I mean that stuff, I don't drink mixed drinks, that's like drinking poison," Richie said.  
  
Of course he knew this from experience, he had 6 mixed drinks once, it didn't kill him, he only wished it did, after the drinks, he didn't stagger, he couldn't even move.  
  
"Just try it," Ruth urged him.  
  
Ruth put the glass near his lips, Richie snorted, "stop it, the bubbles are going up my nose."  
  
By now, Ruth had the glass pressed against his lips, Richie retalliated, "Stop it! I'm getting tired of this!"  
  
Richie grabbed the glass, spilling part of it on the couch, at that time, Casey, Sergeant Adams, Mr. Chandler and Inspector Reilia came in with a cart of poison antidotes. Somehow, they ran into Duncan and Methos on the way and told them what was going on. Well, they couldn't just act like they normally would and let Richie die and come back, they had to go along with it. Duncan, being responsible for Richie for almost 5 years decided to take action.  
  
"Now listen, I've had enough of this, Ruth!" Richie exclaimed.  
  
Duncan ran over to Richie and jerked him off the couch, looking at the glass he came to the only logical conclusion, "He already drank some, what've you got?" he asked the inspector.  
  
"Mustard milk," he handed Duncan a bottle.  
  
"Mustard milk," Duncan repeated as he took Richie over to the bathrooom.  
  
"Mustard milk?" Richie repeated, "Now listen Mac!"  
  
Too late, Duncan took Richie into the bathroom and closed the door, he figured he might as well really go along with it.  
  
"What's the meaning of this?" Ruth asked.  
  
"The gag's up, Mrs. Goseland, I told them everything about you and the people you had come here, including that fake swami from Newark," Methos said.  
  
Duncan and Richie came back out of the bathroom, Richie anxious to get out of there.  
  
"What else have you got?" Duncan asked.  
  
"Flour and water," Inspector Reilia told him.  
  
"Swell," Duncan took the bottle.  
  
"Mac!" Richie exclaimed.  
  
"Why'd you kill Phillips and Inspector Feldman, Miss Goseland?" Sergeant Adams asked.  
  
"I didn't kill them, please believe me Sergeant, if I had any idea of who I'd tell you," Ruth said, "but I beg of you, Sergeant, don't let my name reach the papers because of this."  
  
"Why not?"   
  
"I'm engaged to be married, it would ruin me if my name got out in a scandal as this," Ruth told him.  
  
Again, Duncan and Richie came out, "What else've you got?"  
  
"Germ wheat and grass," the inspector said.  
  
"MAAAAC!" Richie whined.  
  
Again, Duncan jerked Richie into the bathroom and closed the door.  
  
"Allright, you might be off the hook for the murders, but why bring this crowd with you?" Sergeant Adams asked.  
  
"My fiance is a lawyer and he has his enemies, he's coming to this hotel soon, and we're both always at risk," Ruth said.  
  
"I don't follow," Sergeant Adams said.  
  
"Well these people I brought with me are old neighbors and friends who are experienced in attack and defense, so if someone should come to the hotel looking for me..."  
  
"I follow you so far, but why not have an officer on guard?" Sergeant Adams asked.  
  
"Because, someone might catch on to that and bomb the hotel, and that's not something I want to risk," Ruth said.  
  
Duncan and Richie came out of the bathroom again, this time they seemed a bit relaxed, "I've given him everything," Duncan exhaled, "nothing."  
  
By now, Richie was so exhausted, confused, embarrassed, and thrown around, he was almost crying, he stagged over to the table and looked up at Duncan, "M--M---Mac.........what're you trying to do to me?"  
  
"Sorry about the rough treatment, kid, but that champagne cocktail mighta been poisoned," Methos told him.  
  
Richie looked up with eyes open wide enough to be the size of golf balls, he couldn't exactly get what they just said.  
  
"W----ww---ww-----awwwwwwww-------what the---ahhhhhhhhh--------I DIDN'T EVEN DRINK THIS STUFF!" he picked up the glass.  
  
"Well why didn't you tell me?" Duncan asked.  
  
"EVERY TIME I OPENED MY MOUTH, YA KEPT POURING SOMETHING DOWN IT!" Richie explained.  
  
End of chapter 3 


	4. Unusual Victim

Blood at Midnight chapter 4  
  
By now, Richie was dead exhausted, confused, tired, and feeling awful on top of that, he was lying on the bed with Casey and Duncan in the room keeping him under observation for the next couple of hours. There was one thing that Richie still couldn't get.  
  
"Why couldn't you have just let me die?" Richie groaned.  
  
"And what kind of friend would I be if I let you fold up like a cockroach?" Duncan asked.  
  
"Probably be a good one," he grunted, "I feel awful."  
  
"Why didn't you tell me that you didn't drink the champagne?" Duncan asked.  
  
"I told you already, why didn't you tell me what was going on?" Richie asked.  
  
"Everything was moving too fast, there wasn't any time to explain," Duncan told him.  
  
Duncan tried to put it as blunk as possible what with Casey still in the room, Richie knew he'd REALLY explain the matter later when they were in private.  
  
*************************************************************************************************  
  
Down in the card room, Ruth, Swami Talbot, Mr. Brook, Mrs. Chapman, and the rest of her gang were discussing several matters of a game of cards.  
  
"You disappointed us, Ruth, we were all very much surprised when the police found nothing in the drink," Talbot said.  
  
"Well surely you don't think I intended to kill him? I just wanted to get him drunk and send him on a slow boat to some place," Ruth said.  
  
"Not permanently though," Mrs. Chapman said, "he'd come back."  
  
"Well I did my part, I got the confession," Ruth said.  
  
"It doesn't do us all that good since that boy is still alive though," Mrs. Penbrook told her.  
  
Talbot put down the cards and looked at the confession, "I have an idea that should make it all work...that fool will commit suicide tonight, and this will be found right next to the body."  
  
"Suicide?" Mrs. Chapman asked.  
  
"I have ways," Talbot pulled out a hypnotic pendulum.  
  
*************************************************************************************************  
  
That night, Richie and Casey found themselves alone in the room for the time being.  
  
"Where's Duncan?" Casey asked.  
  
"Downstairs in the lobby with Adam," Richie said.  
  
"What're they doing?" Casey asked.  
  
"Drinking...Mac hasn't done anything today since he found out about Lou's death, I guess this is his way of reacting to it," Richie said.  
  
"And Adam?"  
  
"Adam always drinks, I don't know if it's cuz he's mourning or if he's become immune to all things around him or what..." Richie said, "so I guess it's just us for now."  
  
"Well why don't we get out of here and look for the killer?" Casey asked.  
  
"Mac told me not to leave the room while the Inspector and Sergeant are roaming around unless he knows about it...Believe me, I've known him long enough to know he's more than strict, and I also know that if we go somewhere around here just the two of us, they'll probably try and arrest us," Richie said.  
  
"Wonderful," Casey said.  
  
"Mac said after 24 hours, things will be calm enough that we can leave, just something that I guess everyone believes, first 24 hours are always the worst," Richie said.  
  
"Unless you're in prison, then every hour's the worst," Casey replied.  
  
"Your small humor has no effect on me right now, I'm tired," Richie said, "having mustard and wheat germ and grass and oil and all that go through your system takes a lot out of you."  
  
"You going to sleep?" Casey asked.  
  
"No, Casey, I'm going to drink coffee until it comes out my ears and I bounce off the walls like a pinball... OF COURSE I'm going to sleep, goodnight," Richie said.  
  
"Yeah, yeah, goodnight...I'm going to go check around the hotel and see what's happening, see ya later, Rich," Casey said.  
  
"Ugha," Richie groaned.  
  
Casey knew Richie well enough to know he meant 'goodnight'.  
  
*************************************************************************************************  
  
Later, Swami Talbot made his way into Richie's room, with a noose, attached it to the ceiling, and started...  
  
"You are in a deep sleep, you hear nothing but my voice, you will obey my every command...now, look at me...Richie, you're future is black, there is no hope for you, you have only one escape, deep sleep, sleep that brings peace, sleep that goes on forever," he said.  
  
Richie muttered a couple of times in the trance, then he replied, "I may as well be dead."  
  
"Yes, now stand up."  
  
"S-st-stand up," Richie repeated.  
  
"Stand up, on the bed, now, put the noose around your neck," Talbot said.  
  
Richie did as the swami told him.  
  
"Now...jump."  
  
Richie looked like he was ready to take the plunge, but instead, he stepped back and pulled at the noose, in the process tearing down the scaffold with it.  
  
"Maybe we need to try something else, Richie, remove the noose, stand up on the floor.....Richie, do you have a gun?"  
  
Richie nodded his head, pleasing Talbot, "good, get it."  
  
Richie went over to the door leading to the next room and walked into it, the swami opened the door as Richie entered the room. He went over to a dresser, and pulled out something.  
  
"Do you have the gun?" Talbot asked.  
  
Richie nodded again.  
  
"Good, then don't delay, put it to your head, and use it!" Talbot said.  
  
Richie did as he was told, he turned around and the swami found Richie's 'gun' was a spray gun for mosquitoes! He was spraying himself in the forehead with water.  
  
"No, no, no!" Talbot discouraged it.  
  
Talbot grabbed at the gun, only to have Richie point it at him and fire, Talbot took the gun and put it away. He then got another idea, he headed over to the window and looked down, they were 3 flights up, surely the fall would kill him.  
  
"Richie, come over to the window, stand on the ledge....good, now jump."  
  
Richie swung his arms back and forth as if preparing for the jump, and he did, back down onto the floor.  
  
"Not into the room, out of the window...Richie listen to me," Talbot said.  
  
Richie shook his head, but Talbot was determined to get him killed, "You're going to commit suicide if it's the last thing you do...take this knife, and plunge it into your heart."  
  
Richie took the knife and shook his head.  
  
"Richie, listen to me, do as I say!"  
  
But Richie refused, "Amazing," Talbot sighed, "even under hypnosis, the will of an idiot to cling to life...Maybe you would prefer to choose your own execution, Richie, how would you like to die?"  
  
"Heart attack," Richie muttered.  
  
Talbot guessed Richie was about 23, too young for a heart attack, probably too healthy for one too. Then, Talbot heard someone coming into the room, so he went out the other door, in came Casey, he found Richie appearing in a state of shock and slapped him to bring him back to reality.  
  
"Richie, what's the idea of running around here with a knife?" Casey asked.  
  
"How could I be running around? I'm in bed," Richie said.  
  
It was then that they noticed the noose and scaffold on the bed.  
  
"What's this? I must be sleepwalking," Richie said, "Casey, what a dream I had!"  
  
"Never mind your dream, Link's run out, we've got to find him and make him talk, come on, get dressed," Casey told him.  
  
Richie went over to his closet, picked out some clothes, figured he better get a cap to go with it, turned around and saw Duncan on a hook on the wall.  
  
"MAC!? CASEY! CASEY!"   
  
Richie slammed shut the closet door, Casey came in wondering what all the ruckus was about, he opened the door and found Duncan hanging in the closet.  
  
"Duncan, he's dead," Casey said, "Hey, he's been stabbed! Hey, you didn't do this while you were sleepwalking, did you?"  
  
"Aw, Casey, you know I wouldn't do a thing like that," Richie said.  
  
"I know it, but do the police know it? If they find Duncan here, it'll be curtains for you," Casey told him.  
  
"What'll we do?" Richie asked.  
  
"Yeah, what'll we do?" Casey thought, "I know, we'll take him back over to his room... I'll get a laundry cart, we'll put him in it, and move him back on over to his room."  
  
"Casey, don't you think the police will find it strange that WE'RE pushing a laundry cart somewhere?" Richie asked.  
  
"You got a point......Rich, you thinking what I'm thinking?" Casey asked.  
  
"I'm afraid I do, and if I live through this night, I'm going to kill you for this," Richie said.  
  
*************************************************************************************************  
  
Casey brought the cart into the room, put Duncan's body in it, and waited for Richie to come out of hiding. After about 10 minutes, Richie came out of the bedroom dressed like one of the maids.  
  
"Nice, now come on, let's get this body back down to his room," Casey said.  
  
"Allright, allright, I'm coming," Richie said.  
  
"Richie."  
  
"What?"  
  
"You can't talk like that if we run into someone, you need to have a feminine voice," Casey told him.  
  
Richie adjusted his voice to a few octaves higher, "is this better?"  
  
"Much, now when you talk, be sure to blink a lot."  
  
"Why?"  
  
"I don't know, women always do that to show off their eyelashes and mascara, at least the ones I see do it," Casey said.  
  
"Casey, for crying out oud, we're just taking Duncan back down to his room, what's going to happen in between that?" Richie asked.  
  
As they reached Duncan's room, Inspector Reilia came out of his, apparently Duncan forgot to mention he reserved a room next to a detective.  
  
"Uh maid, could you get me a bath towel?" he asked.  
  
"Yes of course," Richie said in his impersonation of a woman.  
  
"By the way Inspector, any news on the murders?" Casey asked.  
  
"Not yet but I'm waiting for the Sergeant to get over here, there's something cooking around here, I'm going to be investigating see what we can find, odds are it'll pin it on your friend," Inspector Reilia told him.  
  
After searching around Duncan's body, Richie dug out a towel for the inspector.  
  
"Here's your towel, sir," he said.  
  
"Thank you."  
  
The inspector went back into his room and slammed the door, Richie met Casey at the handle of the cart, "Push!"  
  
They got it into Duncan's room, Casey took it from there, "should I dump him in bed?"  
  
"Certainly not, put him in the closet, let somebody else find him," Richie said.  
  
Richie told Casey to do this because truth be known, Ducan's wound would take a while to heal, and the amount of alcohol he could have had in his system around the time of the death would delay it. If they put him in the closet, there would be less chance of someone finding him, and by that time, he would be alive again. Of course he didn't dare tell Casey this, he'd never hear the end of it.  
  
Casey pushed the cart into the closet, put his body on a shelf, and slammed the door. The vibration of which, knocked Duncan's body back down into the cart.  
  
"Wait a minute, if they find that cart in there, they might try to pin it on us, go get the cart," Richie told him.  
  
Casey got the cart out of the closet, Richie grabbed the handle and they headed out of there, Richie put the cart over in the storage room, and they headed back to their room.  
  
"I'm exhausted, you know, we were really in a mess there for a second," Casey said.  
  
"Well I'm glad it's over," Richie said.  
  
"I'm going to bed, see you in the morning," Casey told him.  
  
Richie opened the closet to put his maid's dress in, he turned around and saw Methos hanging on the wall!  
  
Richie went back out to the storage room, dragged the cart out, and took it back into his room.  
  
"CASEY!" Richie called.  
  
End of chapter 4 


	5. What Alibi?

Blood at Midnight chapter 5  
  
"What is it now, Rich?" Casey asked.  
  
"I don't think you want to see this," Richie said.  
  
"Then don't show me," Casey told him.  
  
"But I think you better," Richie added.  
  
"What?"  
  
Casey opened the closet door and saw Methos on the closet wall, he ran out of the room screaming, as he headed over to the storage room, he came back with a puzzled look.  
  
"Where's the cart? Where's the cart?" Casey asked.  
  
"Right there," Richie pointed, "scared ya, didn't it?"  
  
"Uh-huh, I'll confess," Casey said.  
  
"You did it?" Richie asked.  
  
"Certainly not," Casey told him, "Adam Pierson."  
  
"What's he hanging around here for?" Richie asked.  
  
"He's hang.....he's dead, ya dope, he's been stabbed too! Get the cart ready," Casey said.  
  
"Why? This is his room, we can't put him somewhere else, people will talk," Richie told him.  
  
"People will talk if they find the body, we'll go to jail for murdering these two when we didn't, so we better put him somewhere," Casey said.  
  
Richie was really getting confused, he'd been an Immortal for about 5 years, and right now, Casey was making more sense than he was. Richie took out some sheets to put him in when he saw Duncan's body back in the cart, he screamed as he threw the sheets back in. Casey took off the sheets and came face to face with Duncan.  
  
"Duncan, hey wait a minute, we just left him down in his room, there's something funny going on here Rich, dead men can't walk," Casey said.  
  
"Well trust me, Case, this one did," Richie told him.  
  
Richie didn't know what to think, either he was losing his mind, or there was someone, or something killing them and planting the bodies in his room. Or maybe Duncan found out how to make it seem he was dead, in a way that other Immortals couldn't sense him. Richie didn't know which it was, but he knew they had to do something.  
  
"Well, what'll we do? This is his room," Richie said.  
  
"Yeah, what'll we do?" Casey thought, "I know, we'll take them down to the card room, there's nobody down there at this hour....well come on, put some life into it!"  
  
"Hey, don't you think that's asking a bit much?" Richie asked.  
  
"Come on, get moving," Casey told him.  
  
*************************************************************************************************  
  
Richie took the cart down to the floor where the card room was, he rolled the cart in when the manager Mr. Chandler came out of the card room.  
  
"What're you doing?" he asked.  
  
"Oh you," Richie said, again in his feminine voice, "I...I was told that there were some dirty towels down here, I'm collecting the laundry for the wash."  
  
"Say, I don't recall seeing you, you new here?" Mr. Chandler asked.  
  
"...Yes, it's my first night," Richie said.  
  
"Boy, you must be busy, look at all that laundry, well, don't wear yourself out, I have enough employees quitting as is," Mr. Chandler said.  
  
"Oh?" Richie asked.  
  
"Yes, they've been going through peoples' rooms for the obvious reasons, clean, make the beds, collect the laundry, they find death threats in their own rooms, then they leave," Mr. Chandler said.  
  
"Oh, oh yes, I'll be careful," Richie said.  
  
At that time, Casey came into the room and noticed the two talking, "What's going on here?"  
  
"Oh, I'm just speaking with the manager," Richie said.  
  
There was a call at the desk phone, Richie and Casey hurried into the card room, Casey told him, "get rid of these bodies!"  
  
"Okay, I'll ge them out," Richie said in his feminine voice.  
  
"Why're you talking that way?" Casey asked.  
  
"I don't know, I'm all mixed up," Richie replied.  
  
Richie propped Duncan and Methos' bodies in 2 of the chairs and they were ready to leave when Casey saw the manager coming, Richie quickly cooked up a plan, that was so crazy, it had to work.  
  
Mr. Chandler came in to see Richie and Casey at the table with cards in their hands, and 2 hands of cards in front of Duncan and Methos.  
  
"Uh...nothing like a relaxing game of poker, huh?" Casey asked.  
  
"Oh I love poker," Richie said in his feminine tone.  
  
"Poker? With 2 open hands?" Mr. Chandler asked.  
  
"Well we're playing with 2 dummies," Richie said.  
  
Mr. Chandler walked over to Duncan's body and picked up a card and put it on the table, "here's a card on the floor, his hand's dead."  
  
"They're both dead," Richie giggled.  
  
Duncan's body slouched off its balance and over towards Richie, Richie did the only thing he could think of.  
  
"Oh no you don't now, no, that's peeking," Richie pushed him back, "oh he's ALWAYS cheating!"  
  
Mr. Chandler took a cigarette out of his jacket, "have you got a match?" he asked Duncan.  
  
"Uh-huh."  
  
Richie stood up and picked up his dress to get out a match out of his jeans pocket, when Casey slapped him to sit back down, Casey took a match out of his pocket, "here's a match."  
  
Mr. Chandler took the match, "what's the status?"  
  
"She calls."  
  
"What'd she raise it to?"  
  
"$72."  
  
Mr. Chandler looked at the cards Richie had, an ace, a king, a jack, a four, and a five, all in different suits, and he choked, "you raised the money to $72 on THAT hand?"  
  
"Yes."  
  
"You know something?" he asked.  
  
"What?" Richie asked.  
  
"You're going to get murdered," Mr. Chandler told him.  
  
Richie became jittery and threw his cards in the air.  
  
"I'm sorry, you know, you really oughtta have me for an opponent, the ones you have are real stiffs," Mr. Chandler said.  
  
Mr. Chandler put his hand on Richie's shoulder, Richie snapped, "Get your hand off me, GET YOUR HAND OFF ME!" Richie stood up, "I am patially engaged, now you leave me ALONE!"  
  
Richie slammed his hand on the table, vibrating Duncan's body to fall on his hand as he picked up on the speech again, "no more!"  
  
Richie tried picking his hand up but Duncan's body was too heavy, he shoved the body off his hand, put Mr. Chandler in a headlock and took him out to the lobby, "you're so strong!" Richie smirked, "now that you dragged me out here, what do you want?"  
  
"Well," Mr. Chandler thought, "how bout a little smack?"  
  
Casey put his cards down and got up, when he heard a strange noise from the other room, a few seconds later, Richie came back in, "What happened?"  
  
"He asked for a smack," Richie said, "so I gave it to him."  
  
Richie turned to Duncan and Methos' bodies, "sorry guys, but you'll have to play 2-handed."  
  
"Here comes Adams and Reilia, get rid of those bodies!" Casey said, "I'll keep them busy."  
  
"Right!" Richie put the bodies in the cart and headed into the next room while Casey went out to speak with the Inspecotr and the Sergeant.  
  
"Hey Inspector, what's going on?" Casey asked.  
  
"Allright Hanson, where's Richie?"  
  
"Richie? Richie...oh yeah, Richie Abernathy, I knew him from Philidelphia, nice short fellow but I don't think..."  
  
"Not him, RICHIE RYAN!" Sergeant Adams demanded.  
  
"Richie Ryan?" Casey repeated.  
  
"Yeah, where is he?" Inspector Reilia asked.  
  
"I wish I knew," Casey said.  
  
*************************************************************************************************  
  
Richie was dumping the bodies in the dumbwaiter and sending it up to the laundry room.  
  
With that being over, he took off his maid's dress and left it and the cart in that room and headed out.  
  
Meanwhile, Casey was having trouble stalling the Inspector and Sergeant.  
  
"I told you guys I don't know where he is, maybe he's up in his room," Casey said.  
  
"We already looked there, and he's too fat to squeeze down a mouse hole, where is he?" Reilia asked.  
  
"I have no idea."  
  
Richie was on the same floor, waiting for an elevator, he checked the clock, 11:53, what a night. At least the worst of it was over, at least he thought it was. Then when the elevator opened, Richie was in shock when he saw Duncan and Methos' bodies in it! For a minute, Richie just looked at them in shock, he left these two dumdums in a dumbwaiter, now they were in the elevator?!  
  
What Richie wasn't paying attention to was that Casey, Reilia and Adams were entering the hall when Reilia saw him, "HEY YOU!"  
  
"Yes?" Richie said in his feminine voice. Then he remembered where he was, "YES!?" he asked, getting some testosterone back in his voice.  
  
Richie pulled shut the elevator door just in time as they came running up his way.  
  
"Come on Richie, let's go up to your room," Casey said.  
  
"I don't want to go up there!" Richie stalled, "my room's a mess up there!"  
  
"Quit stalling!" Adams said.  
  
"Allright Ryan, what do you know about the murders?"  
  
"Which one, there was 4 of them," then Richie realized what he just said, "4 OF THEM!? There was a white one, a red one, a black one and a pale one with a..."  
  
Richie scrambled his brain as he tried to talk as he closed the door again when it automatically opened, but Inspector Adams wan't pleased.  
  
"We're not in the mood for Revelations, why'd you kill Phillips and Feldman?"  
  
"I didn't kill anybody," Richie pleaded.  
  
"I told you guys that already, he's too dumb," Casey said.  
  
"Oh yeah, what'll you call this?"  
  
Sergeant Adams opened a small box full of a dissolved mass, Casey ran his fingers through it, "could be ashes."  
  
"That's right, ran it under a test in the lab, shows its the remains of a linen handkerchief," Sergeant Adams said.  
  
"Well a burnt handkerchief doesn't prove anything," Casey defended Richie.  
  
"It does when it shows the handkerchief had blood stains on it!" Sergeant Adams said.  
  
"I burnt it," Richie admitted.  
  
"Oh, so you admit it," Inspector Reilia said.  
  
"Oh no you see Inspector Feldman was in the room he was laying there dead! I didn't know anything about!" Richie gave up trying to explain, "ohhhhhhhh!"  
  
"Why didn't you tell me?" Casey asked.  
  
"I ain't got any sense," Richie replied, "I was in a panic and just did it!"  
  
"Wait a minute, wait a minute!" Something hit Casey, "if those tests could show that there was blood on the handkerchief, why couldn't the tests show if it had fingerprints or a monogram on it?"   
  
"We tried already, the damage was already done," Reilia said.  
  
"How in the world do you find blood stains on it but not fingerprints of odds are that the prints would be larger than the blood stains?" Casey asked.  
  
"I'm getting tired of discussing this, let's go up to your room," Adams said.  
  
Richie put up a fight to keep them away from the elevator but they one, Adams, Reilia and Casey stepped into the elevator, surprisingly enough, the bodies were nowhere to be found, and Richie was in shock. Of course his brain was trying to say something, all he could do was twist his lips out of shape as he muttered a few things.  
  
"Rich, knock it off will you? You look like Sylvester Stallone during an arm wrestling match, and it ain't a pleasant sight, now get in here!" Casey jerked him in.  
  
Richie glanced at his watch, the numbers jumped to 12:00, Richie had a feeling this was going to be a long night. At that exact time, they heard someone screaming, they ran out of the elevator, around the corner, up the stairs and into a nearby room where they found a maid screaming. There was a puddle of something red in the carpet, Adams came to one conclusion, "blood!"  
  
"I've been trying to get in here all day, but no one answered," the maid said, "so, I finally let myself in, and then I found THAT!"  
  
"Who's room is this?" Adams asked.  
  
"Mr. Link's, sir," Mr. Chandler said.  
  
Richie knew that Robert was dead, there was no proof but also no mistakening it, the only question was, when was he murdered if he ran out earlier?  
  
"Did anyone see him go out?" Adams asked.  
  
"I was in the lobby quite late, I didn't see anybody," Mr. Chandler said.  
  
By now, a bit of a crowd had gotten together in the room, Adams had to get this under control, he quickly saw something wrong.  
  
"Well swami, what're you doing fully dressed at this hour?" Adams asked.  
  
"Just a little game of cards with Mr. Brooks," he replied.  
  
Sergeant Adams moved over to Ruth, "and you?"  
  
"I was 3rd hand," she replied.  
  
The sergeant then turned to Mrs. Chapman and Mrs. Penbrook, "and naturally you were there too?"  
  
"Naturally," they replied.  
  
"Well ain't that something? All for 1 and 1 for all as far as the alibis are concerned," Inspector Reilia said, "now listen up all of you, you all had a motive for killing Phillips, today the late Inspector Feldman was found dead, now Phillips' secretary's disappeared, Maybe he's alive maybe he isn't..."  
  
"He isn't," Richie blurted.  
  
"How do you know that?" Reilia asked.  
  
"Well I..." again, it hit Richie what he just said, so he pointed out the obvious, "cuz that spot on the floor....that ain't ketchup."  
  
"It could mean Link has been murdered, on another hand it could be a red herring," Sergeant Adams said.  
  
"This is ridiculous Sergeant, you've got your murderer, Richard Ryan," Mr. Brooks said.  
  
"I thought so too, but apparently he's got an airtight alibi," Adams said.  
  
"Allright, everyone return to your rooms," Reilia said, "not you Hanson or Ryan!"  
  
"What?" Richie asked.  
  
"You're up to your neck in this, but there was something screwy about those nuts being dressed at this hour, so I'm going to give you one more chance to clear yourself," Reilia said.  
  
"How?" Casey asked.  
  
"Easy, when that handkerchief was left in Feldman's room, the killer if he wasn't Ryan felt safe, but now he's going to be pretty anxious to get that handkerchief, what you have to do is sell it and find the murderer," Reilia explained.  
  
"Who's gonna buy a lot of ashes?" Richie asked.  
  
"Nobody except us know you burnt the handkerchief, now what you have to do is tell everyone in the hotel you have the handkerchief and you're willing to sell it, we'll say at about $5,000," Adams said.  
  
"I get it," Casey said, "whoever agrees to buy the handkerchief is the murderer!"  
  
"Exactly," Richie said, "that's not a bad idea, I'm going up to my room and figure the whole thing out."  
  
"Where's your room key?" Adams asked.  
  
"In my pocket where I..." Richie dug into his pocket and couldn't find the key.  
  
"Here it is," Adams held it out, "I didn't get this for nothing you know."  
  
Adams pulled at his jacket only to find his badge missing.  
  
"Here it is," Richie handed it to him.  
  
"GET GOING!" Adams told them.  
  
Richie and Casey ran out of the room.  
  
"Where'd you put the bodies?" Casey asked.  
  
"In the elevator," Richie answered.  
  
They headed over to the elevators, Casey headed to the one that was closed to see them.  
  
"Not that one, this one," Richie pointed to the open elevator.  
  
"There's no bodies in there," Casey realized.  
  
"That's what I'm trying to say, someone stole them," Richie said.  
  
"Well, at least they're out of our hair for now, now what you have to do is find a way to get someone to buy that handkerchief," Casey said.  
  
"But suppose the murderer hasn't got the money?" Richie asked.  
  
"Well then they're out to kill you for it, by either means there'll be a show of hands," Casey said.  
  
"If they do that, I'm liable to get killed...not a bad idea," Richie said.  
  
"Are you serious?" Casey asked.  
  
"No, because tomorrow, YOU'RE going to help me sell the handkerchief," Richie cracked a smile.  
  
"What?" Casey asked.  
  
"You cover half the hotel guests, I'll cover the other half, and neither the fugitive shall meet," Richie said.  
  
End of chapter 5 


	6. The Finale

The Finale  
  
Richie and Casey headed back to their rooms, Richie figured whever Duncan and Methos were, by the time they revived, they'd figure they got drunk and stumbled into whever the hell they were. He figured there was no sense in looking for them now, they could be anywhere in the hotel.  
  
The next morning, Casey and Richie headed out across the hotel, asking all the guests if they were interested in buying a handkerchief, and for the price it cost, they all got the same response, 'NO!'  
  
So, after asking every guest in the hotel, Richie and Casey met on the hotel grounds.  
  
"Any luck?" Richie asked.  
  
"No, you?"  
  
"Same," Richie replied, "no one in this hotel wants to buy that handkerchief, I swear, it'd be easier to kill me...I wish they'd quit stalling and get around to it."  
  
A flowerpot dropped from the roof, narrowly missing Richie and Casey.  
  
"THEY'RE GETTING AROUND TO IT ALLRIGHT!" Casey exclaimed.  
  
"It's just a cat," Richie pointed out, "Case, are you sure you asked everybody?"  
  
"Everybody but Mr. Brooks," Casey said.  
  
"Mr. Brooks? I saw him going down to the steam room, you better see if you can catch him," Richie said.  
  
So Casey headed down to the steam room, Mr. Brooks looked like he was about through, so Casey had to act fast.  
  
"Hey Mr. Brooks," Casey acted casual, "can I ask you a question?"  
  
"What?" Mr. Brooks asked.  
  
"Do you catch many colds?" Casey asked.  
  
"No, why?" Mr. Brooks asked.  
  
"I got a handkerchief I'd be willing to sell ya, $5,000," Casey said.  
  
"$5,000, that's preposterous!" Mr. Brooks said.  
  
"Aw, but it's a beautiful handkerchief, it's really nothing to sneeze at," Casey told him.  
  
"Neither is $5,000," Mr. Brooks said.  
  
Mr. Brooks got up and left, as Casey tried to think what to do next, he turned his head and saw a hand in the corner of the room turn up the steam. Casey ran around to see who it was, but they were already gone, and there wasn't any way out other than the doors on the other side of the room, so he couldn't figure where he went. Casey ran over to the doors to get out, but they were locked!  
  
*************************************************************************************************  
  
"Ryan, your luck's running out, if nobody buys that handkerchief, then we're taking you and your friend down to the station," Reilia said.  
  
"Well look, Casey's downstairs in the steam room talking to Mr. Brooks about it," Richie started.  
  
"Well then I say we head down there," Sergeant Adams said.  
  
Richie gritted his teeth, odds were there'd be no one there by now, as they headed down there, they noticed that the area had gotten unusually hot.  
  
"What the...Someone locked this place up!" Reilia realized.  
  
"With steam like that, no one would be able to..." Adams started.  
  
"Hold it, I see someone in there!" Reilia said.  
  
Richie peered through the small glass window and came to a shocking conclusion, "THAT'S CASEY!"  
  
"WHAT!?" Reilia asked.  
  
They broke the doors down and found Casey's more or less lifeless body lying on the floor, they revived him with smelling salts and rushed him to the hospital, after a few minutes, Casey was gasping heavily, and started muttering.  
  
"I---I saw a hand come around the corner, and he put on all the steam he could....f-ffull force---I think someone's trying to kill me," Casey said.  
  
"You expect us to believe that, Hanson? For all we know, you probably rigged up that whole thing to lower the suspicion on you and your friend here," Adams said.  
  
"Now listen here Sergeant, I'm getting tired of you accusing me and Richie of being the killer, I'm a citizen and I'm a taxpayer, and it's my taxes that gets you your gun and your badge, and it's my taxes that pays you your salary every week," Casey started.  
  
He figured since these two morons didn't know much about he and Richie, they wouldn't know any better.  
  
"What's the point?" Adams asked.  
  
"Get me a jug of water," Casey said.  
  
"Okay.......WATER!?" Adams asked.  
  
*************************************************************************************************  
  
After a few hours, Richie and Casey returned to the hotel, Casey opened the door a crack, and slipped loose a wire from a booby trap he rigged, then he opened the door for them to head in. Casey was still exhausted, only now not from the heat exhaustion from the steam room, but from thinking that after tonight, Talbot and his crew would be on a plane heading out from California and the police having no dirt on them couldn't arrest them, and he and Richie would be taken downtown to be charged for the murders. Richie took off his jacket and was about to hang it up in the closet when he slammed the door shut without looking in.  
  
"Every time I open a closet door there's a dead body in there," Richie nervously knocked on the door, "is there anybody in there...huh?"  
  
No response, and Richie couldn't sense anyone around, so he opened the door, and there was no body, but there was still the question of Robert Link's body turning up since he was never found.  
  
"This is getting ridiculous," Richie said, "for once, I wish someone would really try to kill me."  
  
Shots rang out, piercing the window, and narrowly missing them as they jumped to the floor. When the shots stopped firing, Richie picked up an umbrella and waved it in front of the window, when no one fired, he and Casey got up. Richie went to phone the Inspector and the Sergeant, Casey went into the bedroom to lie down. He closed his eyes to get a couple minutes of rest before facing the Sergeant, he rolled over in bed and felt something, he opened his eyes and saw someone lying under the sheets, he figured it was Richie.  
  
"Rich...I didn't hear you come in, what're you doing in here? You're supposed to be in the next room phoning Adams and Reilia, now Rich... you know that all these people in the hotel they're just dying to get us killed, you should be ashamed of yourself, that's why the sheet's on your head."  
  
Casey pulled down the sheet and saw Methos' body lying next to him, Casey jumped out of bed and ran into the next room to get Richie, and by the time he got back to the bedroom, the body was gone.  
  
"Okay, Case, so you messed up the bed, so what?" Richie asked.  
  
"No, Adam!" Casey muttered.  
  
"What?" Richie asked.  
  
"He was right here!" Casey said.  
  
"WHAT!? Casey, you're getting me all worked up, now knock this off, you go phone the Inspector, I need a drink," Richie said.  
  
Richie went into the bathroom, filled a cup with some water and started gargling, he turned and saw Duncan's lifeless body in the tub, Richie spit out the water and ran into the next room to get Casey, by the time they got back, Duncan's body was gone.  
  
"MAC!" Richie shouted.  
  
"Where?" Casey asked.  
  
"Must be a leak in the tub," Richie said.  
  
"Knock it off Richie, you go phone the Inspector, now I need a drink," Casey said.  
  
Richie went into the next room and picked up the phone.  
  
"Hello?" Richie turned to see Duncan's body seated at the desk, "Hello."  
  
It just hit Richie what he saw, he ran back into the bedroom to get Casey, and by the time they got back, Duncan's body was gone.  
  
"Are you trying to tell me that Duncan's body was there?" Casey asked.  
  
"He WAS there," Richie said.  
  
"DON'T GIVE ME THAT!" Casey said, "Mac was there, Mac was there, Mac was there, how could he be? The man is DEAD!"  
  
"Well believe me, for a dead guy, Mac's sure getting a lot of exercise," Richie said.  
  
[Makes sense, only Duncan could die a healthy man,] Richie thought.  
  
"Richie, this is getting ridiculous, is Duncan there?" Casey asked.  
  
"No," Richie said.  
  
Casey jerked him over into the bathroom and pointed to the tub, "is he there?"  
  
"No," Richie realized.  
  
Casey took him over to the bedroom, "is he there?"  
  
Richie pulled up the sheet at the foot of the bed and looked up it, "Yes."  
  
Casey pulled off the sheets and saw Duncan's body back in the bed.  
  
"What the..."  
  
"Cover it up, Case."  
  
"Rich, this ain't good, if the Inspector finds his body here, then we're in trouble!" Casey said.  
  
"I know, we'll hide him in the closet," Richie ran over to the closet door, opened it and saw Methos hanging in it again, "What kept you?" he asked the corpse.  
  
There was a knock at the door, Richie closed the closet, pulled the sheet back up on Duncan and he and Casey went out to the front room and greeted Reilia and Adams.  
  
"Sorry for the trouble, it was just a false alarm," Richie said.  
  
But Reilia caught on too quickly and saw the holes in the wall, he went over to the wall and beside the couch to examine them, then he noticed a problem behind the couch, pushed it forward and found a stiff.  
  
"Robert Link, Phillips' secretary, why'd you kill him?" Reilia asked.  
  
"Go get a sheet from the bedroom to cover the body," Adams told him, "well Ryan, now you have 3 murders to answer to."  
  
"Make that 5, Sergeant," Reilia came back out.  
  
Adams, Richie and Casey went into the bedroom to find Duncan's body on the bed, and Methos' body on the trunk.  
  
"Well, Ryan?"  
  
"No, no, no, Richie couldn't have done this," Casey said.  
  
"What about you, Hanson?"  
  
"No, Casey was with me the whole time these bodies were being moved," Richie said.  
  
"Yeah, I don't know how they got moved around because I've got this place booby-trapped, this door here, I got a wire running from it, up to there, so if someone comes in without us knowing it, they're caught hanging upside-down by their heels. And this...these French doors here, they're rigged too, and we don't have to worry about these windows because we're 3 flights up, and that door...That door leads to Mr. Brooks' room, and I know Mr. Brooks, and I know he wouldn't leave any dead bodies lying around," Casey explained.  
  
The door opened and in came Mr. Brooks, "I'm afraid I did this time."  
  
"Excuse me," Richie went over to Mr. Brooks, "Are you the one that's been playing hide and seek with me and Mac?"  
  
"I don't know what you're talking about," Mr. Brooks said, "I found the bodies in my room and got panicked so I brought them in he..."  
  
"How could you find the bodies in your room?" Richie blurted out, "I put them in the dumbwaiter!"  
  
"WHAT!?" Adams asked.  
  
"Okay Ryan, why'd you kill all those people?" Reilia asked.  
  
"I didn't murder anybody," Richie said, "I'm not the type that goes around killing people, but all the evidence points to me...so...take me down."  
  
Reilia and Adams nabbed Richie and took him down to the lobby, Richie could tell they had in plan a long, humiliating ordeal before he had to go downtown. Adams called in all the hotel staff and guests into the lobby.  
  
"This week has been a pretty unusual goose chase, we've had several suspects, different stories, airtight alibis in some of the most unusual characters," Reilia said, "but we've finally caught the murderer, Richard Ryan, and now you're under arrest for the murders of Louis Phillips, Robert Link, Tracy Feldman, Duncan MacLeod and Adam Pierson."  
  
Then the buzz hit Richie, and he turned to the stairs when he heard someone.  
  
"That won't be necessary, Inspector, as Adam and I seem to have recovered from our deaths," Duncan laughed.  
  
"Mac!?" Richie asked.  
  
"How?....Who...you were dead!" Inspector Reilia said.  
  
"On the contrary, the other night, Adam and I decided in order to catch the real murderer, we must disappear from the public eye, so we feigned our deaths, something which Mr. Ryan had no knowledge of...After he disposed of us in the dumbwaiter, someone had found us, panicked and put us on the elevator, the same one Mr. Ryan kept stalling to open last night. He found our bodies and assumed the killer put us there to frame him, which was correct. So, when Mr. Brooks found us and put us in Mr. Ryan's room, while he was absent, we decided to move ourselves around. And in between that, we found out that Mr. Ryan had his own plan of finding the murderer, a handkerchief involved in the murder of Inspector Tracy Feldman," Duncan explained.  
  
"That's right! I asked everybody about the handkerchief, nobody was interested," Richie said.  
  
"That's what they wanted you to think, Mr. Ryan, Mr. Hanson, the Inspector, and the Sergeant all knew one thing that was kept under the table. There was no handkerchief, Mr. Ryan had burnt it. Yet he knew that the killer wouldn't know and asked everyone in the hotel. But that's where he made a mistake, he only asked the guests, now if he bothered to ask the staff, he would've found..."  
  
Mr. Chandler pulled a gun out of his jacket and had everyone keep their hands above their heads while he backed up, and he was about to get out of the hotel when Richie beat him over the head with a bottle of champagne that rested on the front desk.  
  
"Mr. Ryan, we apologize, as for Chandler, he'll be looking to 40 years in prison for 3 counts of murder," Sergeant Adams said.  
  
"Mac, did someone bump you off?" Richie muttered to him.  
  
"Yes," Duncan replied.  
  
"And how did you know about the handkerchief?" Richie asked.  
  
"Joe told us, lately he's been hiding out to gather this information," Duncan explained.   
  
"That guy Chandler, he didn't really murder 3 people, did he?" Richie asked.  
  
"No, just Feldman and Link, the Immortal that killed Lou is long gong," Duncan said.  
  
"But we ain't saying anything to get Chandler time off, are we?" Richie laughed.  
  
"Not a chance," Duncan replied.  
  
"Good to have you back," Richie told him, "I'm so happy to see you alive, I could kiss you!"  
  
"Uh..." Duncan pushed Richie's mouth away from him, "not until we locate a toothbrush."  
  
So, the next day, Richie, Duncan, Joe, Methos and Casey had attended Lou's funeral and now were on a plane heading back to Washington, Richie and Casey were glad to be free men. Which was more than they could say for Mr. Chandler. Lou, Tracy Feldman and Robert Link had been laid to rest, but they figured Feldman wouldn't be getting any rest where he was going. 


End file.
